Interactive wiring diagrams
These are teaching diagrams: pictures of how a circuit behaves. Every one is drawn from the electrical relationships, not traced from a book, so the interactive layer is honest — the light really does depend on the switch positions, and the copper trace really follows the closed path. Toggle a switch on any of them and watch what changes.
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3-way switch wiring diagram
Control one light from two places with a pair of SPDT switches and two travellers.
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4-way switch wiring diagram
Control one light from three or more places by adding an intermediate switch.
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Single-pole switch wiring
The simplest lighting circuit — one switch breaking the hot to one fixture.
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Switch loop wiring
Supply fed at the light, a two-wire loop dropped to the switch, no neutral in the box.
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GFCI wiring diagram
Line versus load, and why the line side stays hot after it trips.
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Split receptacle wiring
Break the brass tab: top half switched, bottom half always hot.
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Duplex receptacle wiring
Brass and silver, the joining tabs, and why an empty outlet is still live.
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240V receptacle wiring
Two live legs across the load, no neutral, a two-pole breaker.
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Motor start/stop station
The seal-in circuit: press Start and the coil latches itself in.
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Contactor wiring diagram
A small coil pulls a large power contact closed to run a motor.
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Photocell wiring
A switch the sky operates: conducts in the dark, opens in daylight.
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Occupancy sensor wiring
A switch the room operates, with a hold-off timer.
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Series vs parallel lighting
Pull a lamp from each and see one string die while the other stays lit.
New to reading a schematic? The symbols index shows what each mark means, and the glossary explains the words that go with them.
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